Aurora Investment Counsel Boosts Position in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE)

Aurora Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (NYSE:APLE) by 182.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 75,802 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,003 shares during the period. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT were worth $1,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 3.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 35,555,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $582,400,000 after acquiring an additional 1,217,142 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,019,115 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $87,518,000 after purchasing an additional 881,217 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Hospitality REIT by 47.6% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,105,783 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,977,000 after purchasing an additional 678,905 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Apple Hospitality REIT by 400.8% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 638,625 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,286,000 after buying an additional 511,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Apple Hospitality REIT by 911.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 388,414 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,648,000 after buying an additional 350,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple Hospitality REIT news, Chairman Glade M. Knight bought 5,000 shares of Apple Hospitality REIT stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.04 per share, for a total transaction of $70,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 636,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,943,339.60. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Hospitality REIT Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE APLE opened at $14.85 on Tuesday. Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. has a 52-week low of $13.60 and a 52-week high of $17.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $14.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $14.81. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.12.

Apple Hospitality REIT (NYSE:APLE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $390.08 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $388.82 million. Apple Hospitality REIT had a net margin of 14.91% and a return on equity of 6.30%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. will post 1.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Hospitality REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.47%. Apple Hospitality REIT’s payout ratio is currently 111.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Apple Hospitality REIT from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Wedbush started coverage on Apple Hospitality REIT in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $15.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Apple Hospitality REIT from $19.00 to $17.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple Hospitality REIT presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.25.

Apple Hospitality REIT Company Profile

Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc (NYSE: APLE) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns one of the largest and most diverse portfolios of upscale, rooms-focused hotels in the United States. Apple Hospitality's portfolio consists of 223 hotels with more than 29,400 guest rooms located in 87 markets throughout 37 states as well as one property leased to third parties.